The module is available as either a hardware appliance or software-based virtual appliance. With it, IT can view its entire wired and wireless networks as a single entity instead of individual network elements, which Cisco says results in reduced complexity and time to application rollout, and more efficient network management.

Policies, once defined, can be pushed out to each network element instead of requiring IT to configure each individual element manually. These policies are also adaptable to network changes, Cisco says.

The APIC Enterprise Module supports a variety of new and legacy APIs and protocols such as OpenFlow, Cisco onePK and command-line interfaces to support new programmable Cisco devices as well as legacy infrastructure.

The APIC Enterprise Module also provides network-wide QoS, and can be used with third-party applications to provide an end-to-end WAN orchestration and management, Cisco says. The module includes a northbound API developer's kit so the controller can be linked to higher-level orchestration systems like OpenStack through a RESTful API.

The APIC Enterprise Module is in early field trials now and will be available in the second quarter, which is the timeframe for Cisco to roll out APIC for data centers. Pricing was still to be determined though Cisco did say APIC Enterprise Module software would be free for existing SMARTNet customers. The hardware appliance will not be.

Cisco this week also extended its cloud software offerings with, among other things, a product designed to enable organizations to combine and move workloads across different clouds.

Cisco InterCloud allows enterprises to move workloads among private, public and hybrid cloud environments through a single interface. It's designed to enable users to move compute, storage and application resources among different public and private cloud networks depending on the needs of that workload.

InterCloud works with Cisco cloud provider customers such as BT, Telstra, Savvis and Virtustream, and public clouds like Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure. Rackspace may also adopt InterCloud through Cisco's InterCloud Provider Enablement Program.

Also this week, Cisco said it is working with Red Hat to extend OpenStack and enable interoperable cloud environments. These include Infrastructure-as-a-Service and Platform as a Service offerings designed to allow customers to manage both legacy DevOps environments and web-scale cloud environments.

Lastly, Cisco unveiled a new release of its Intelligent Automation for Cloud (IAC) management software to improve ordering and provisioning of IT services. IAC 4.0 includes an enhanced service catalog for ordering from a self-service portal.

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